


Love Language

by 911xtarlos



Series: Harringrove Ficlets [12]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Billy Hargrove Is Bad at Feelings, Billy Hargrove Redemption, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gay Billy Hargrove, I Love You, Love Confessions, M/M, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-24 05:48:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21094403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/911xtarlos/pseuds/911xtarlos
Summary: How Billy Hargrove and Steve Harrington say "I love you"





	Love Language

Billy Hargrove was not one for “I love you”’s and sweet sentiments. He didn’t confess his love in Shakespearean sonnets or stand under windows with boom boxes. Billy rarely showed his feelings through words.

But you always knew where you stood with Billy. You could tell through his actions how he really felt about you.

Billy had only said “I love you” to Max once or twice, but she knew it was true. She saw it in the way he ruffled her hair when he was proud of her or the way he would playfully shove her when he walked by. She saw it in the way he smiled at her when she dragged him and Steve outside to demonstrate a new skateboard trick or got an A on a test or did something right when she helped him with his car. She knew Billy loved her.

Billy had never said it to the rest of the party either and he probably never would, but they knew how he felt. They knew it from the way he endlessly ragged on Mike, because he needed someone to put him in his place every once in a while. They knew it from the way he smiled good naturedly at Dustin’s ramblings even though he was rolling his eyes. They knew it from how he taught Dustin to drive and let him help work on his car with Max. They knew it from how he complimented all of Will’s drawings and how he recognized all of his triggers. They knew it from the way that he would sit still for hours while El perfected braiding his hair and the way that he answered all of her questions, even when the others thought the answer should be obvious. 

Billy told Steve he loved him a lot. Sometimes not as often as Steve wished he would. Some days, he even counted getting Billy to call him baby as a victory. But Steve knew that Billy loved him. Billy loved him fiercely. He knew it from the soft touches on his cheek and kisses on his forehead. He knew it from the way Billy wrapped him up and held him close in their bed at night. He knew it from the way Billy was always right next to him when he woke up screaming and sweating from nightmares and sat with him as long as he needed. He knew it from the way Billy constantly reassured him that he wasn’t going anywhere, when Steve’s anxiety got the best of him. He knew that Billy loved him.

*****

Steve Harrington said “I love you” almost too much. It was rare that his parents ever told him they loved him or even that they were proud of him. These days it was rare that they spoke to him at all. He grew up in a cold, crisp white house where his parents marriage was purely one of convenience and to admit your love was to show that you actually might have a soul. 

Steve vowed to never be that way. He promised himself that he would always let the people in his life know how he felt about them.

He told Robin he loved her every day when they left work. He’d walk her to her car, hug her hard and say “I love you”. The first few times she had been confused by his affection but had quickly realized that this, among other things was just something Steve did, so she rolled with it. She would squeeze him back, sometimes kiss his cheek if he was having a bad day and reply, “I love you too.”

The kids were used to Steve’s “I love you”’s. They got them every morning when he dropped them off at school, or every time he took them to the arcade, and everytime he took them home at night. He told them every time they stayed over at his house and he would poke his head into the living room and say “I love you” to the pile of blankets on the floor before going upstairs. He also told them randomly. He would be helping, or trying his best to help, Dustin with his homework and when he finally got the answer to the problem he’d been struggling with he’d say “I’m proud of you.” Because to him, that was just as good. He would tell Lucas on report card day when he shoved the sheet of paper bearing all As into his face. He tell El everytiem she learned something new and repeated it excitedly back to him. He would tell Mike everytime he was being an ass, because sometimes Mike needed someone to remind him. He would tell Will every time he picked him up from his therapy sessions or when Will reported a night without bad dreams. He would tell Max when she drug him and Billy outside to show them the new skateboard trick she’d learned. He’d catch Billy beaming out of the corner of his eye and wrap an arm around Max’s shoulders and say “I’m proud of you” or “I love you” because sometimes he had to say it for both of them.

He told Billy he loved him at least once a day. He told him he loved him when he came downstairs to find that Billy had already made him coffee. He would say it when he or Billy left for work. He would kiss him on the cheek and whisper it in his ear when they were cuddling on the couch watching a movie. When he or Billy woke up from nightmares he’d wrap himself around him and whisper it again his shoulder like a prayer. He would say it when Billy was being stubborn and refusing to tell him what was wrong and he’d tell him again when Billy finally broke down. He’d tell him all the time so that Billy never had a doubt in his mind that Steve loved him. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Make sure to leave comments and kudos if that's something you like to do. I'm also on Tumblr. 
> 
> Click [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/strxngehxrringrove) to check out my blog.


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